Steph has perfect ‘old’ response after late-game fireworks

Three days shy of his 35th birthday, Steph Curry put on a late-game show for the ages.

With the Warriors in desperate need of a win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night at Chase Center, Curry saved the day with several clutch 3-pointers and a game-saving block in the final seconds of regulation to overtime. Then he took over in the extra period, propelling Golden State to a thrilling 125-116 win over the team with the NBA’s best record.

In all, Curry played a game-high 43 minutes, with only one other player (Jrue Holiday) surpassing 39 minutes of action.

Shortly after the final buzzer, an exhausted Curry spoke to ABC’s Lisa Salters and was asked if he was OK, considering what he had just done.

“I’m great,” Curry told Salters. “I’m just getting old.”

While Curry willed the Warriors to the win, midway through the fourth quarter, he was subbed out of the game with the Bucks leading by six. It was a puzzling move by Warriors coach Steve Kerr considering the importance of the outcome.

Curry ultimately sat for roughly 80 seconds of game time and when he checked back into the game, the Warriors were down seven with four minutes remaining.

The Bucks pushed the lead to eight with two minutes left in regulation, but that’s when Curry took over, scoring eight straight points to tie the game with 45 seconds left. After Holiday hit a tough 3-pointer to give Milwaukee the lead, Curry answered back with a 3-pointer of his own.

In overtime, Curry added nine more points, finishing with a game-high 36 points.

Draymond Green, who just turned 33 on March 4, admitted to reporters that he’s in no position to give Curry flack for his advanced age.

“No, I’m a little too old at this point to be teasing somebody else about getting old,” Green said after the game. “I’m a couple years behind him. But old is what you make it. You go out with an old mindset, you’re going to look old. I don’t think he goes out with an old mindset. I don’t think he approaches his day-to-day with an old mindset. He approaches his day-to-day better than I’ve ever seen him approach it before. He’s locked in. True pro. He gets it and it’s showing up in his game.”

Green has seen a majority of Curry’s masterclass performances, and yet, he still is in awe of what the two-time NBA MVP can do this stage in his career.

“At the age of 35, which he’s turning in a couple days, that he’s still able to do it at that level, night in and night out with no sign of slowing down,” Green said. “I was saying this earlier. We’re starting to see more guys go later into that prime, if you will, and that’s starting to change, but you can’t take that for granted, especially at that size. We’ve seen some great players at that size, but to do it at this level for that amount of time at that size, we all know how teams are guarding him. He’s going up against two or three guys every night. And to continue to do it at that level is huge.”

After the game, Kerr shared his rationale behind sitting Curry down late in the fourth quarter.

“He looked tired at that point, so it was a no-brainer just to allow him to get a couple minutes on the bench and fill up the tank for the last few minutes,” Kerr told reporters.

Kerr’s move worked flawlessly, allowing Curry to play the final nine minutes of the game. And the Warriors needed every one of those minutes. Instead of falling back to the .500 mark, Golden State now is 35-33 and has jumped back into the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

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All thanks to Curry.

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